[IPython-User] ipython prompt slows significantly after importing from mayavi

[Robert Kern]

On 2/17/12 1:11 PM, Stefan wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I have given up to get ipython qtconsole working with mayavi on my Mac for
> now.
>
> Unfortunately, it doesn't quite work on the plain ipython shell either. Most
> of the time, after importing anything from mayavi, e.g.
>
> from mayavi import mlab
>
> the ipython command prompt becomes so slow and unresponsive that it is
> impossible to work with. I say "most of the time", since about every fourth
> restart of ipython "survives" the mayavi import. If one gets lucky and gets
> such a "surviving" shell, it remains responsive even after subsequent mayavi
> commands. One could actually do some work then...

Qt is the culprit, here. The bit of IPython that integrates the terminal input 
with the Qt event loop is not very responsive on OS X.

-- 
Robert Kern

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
  that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
  an underlying truth."
   -- Umberto Eco